Herricks High School seniors Monica Lee and Deepti Mahajan have been named finalists in the 2015 Neuroscience Research Prize competition, sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society. This award was established to encourage high school students to explore the world of the brain and nervous system through laboratory research.
Both Lee and Mahajan had project abstracts that were found to be among the 16 best submissions from a large number of entries made by students from all over the United States. All finalists discussed their project through telephone interviews with at least two judges. The winners will be selected based on overall written and verbal performance.
Lee and Mahajan conducted independent, two-year neuroscience research studies. Lee’s research entitled “Modulating the Innate Immune System through the Stimulation of Toll-Like
Receptor 9 as a Therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease in a TgSwDI Mouse Model in Both Acute and Long Term Studies” was conducted at New York University- Alexandria Center for Life Sciences at East River Science Park.
Mahajan’s research entitled “Characterization of Neuronal Nucleolar Structural Changes after Inhibition of RNA Polymerase I” was conducted at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Both students are four-year participants in the Science Research program under the mentorship of Renée Barcia.
Four winners will each receive a $1,000 prize. Three winners and their teachers will receive airfare, two nights hotel, $100 per day for expenses (up to two days), and the opportunity to present their work during a scientific poster session at the AAN 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.—the world’s largest gathering of neurologists.
One winner and his/her teacher will receive airfare, three nights hotel, a daily per diem (up to three days), and the opportunity to present his/her work at the Child Neurology Society 44th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
